


My heart is yours, always

by DoctorBilly



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen, Grief, Trope:AU (Space), bereavement, implied suicide, letswritesherlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 19:12:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2036721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorBilly/pseuds/DoctorBilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock is in charge of a space exploration vessel. A new crew member brings him a gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sherlock waits

Sherlock checks his systems. Lights blink, green, amber, red. He doesn't care about the colours, he is only interested in the information they convey. He carries out his checks according to old, well-defined priorities.

 **Red** : Airlock: pressure seal faulty. Priority **1**

He despatches a mechanoid to replace the faulty seal. The airlock will be in use soon. It won't do to have a new crew member blasted into the vacuum of space because a seal gives way.

 **Amber** : Hydroponics: ratio of food to oxygenating plants unbalanced (not life-threatening) Priority **2**

He unlocks the cold storage chamber, selects trays of oxygenating plant seedlings, installs them in the appropriate racks in the hydroponics chamber using remote handling systems. He adjusts nutrient and water levels, turns up the daylight-simulating lights.

 **Green** : Crew quarters: no action required. Priority **0**

Officially no priority, but Sherlock wants to make sure the new crew member is comfortable. He has been provided with a list of her likes and dislikes. Likes: earth-natural light; coffee; whisky; violin music. Sherlock has a large repertoire of violin music. There will be someone to appreciate it, at last. Dislikes: Western films; the colour red.

The new member is not a permanent addition to the crew. She will only be staying for a short time, perhaps a month, measured under earth standard time. She is on her way to take up a permanent post on a planetary base, but has made a special request to break her journey on Sherlock's ship. He doesn't know why.

He has done no research into her background, knows only what has been sent in the official communication. People like to talk. She will talk to him, tell him about herself. It will help her pass the time, and she will prefer it if he doesn't already know. He will try not to deduce her.

Sherlock checks his systems again. The airlock pressure indicator is green. The faulty seal has been replaced by the efficient little mechanoid.

Sherlock waits.


	2. The diamond heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new crew member gives a Sherlock a gift

The new crew member presents herself on the command deck. She looks familiar to Sherlock, although he has never seen her, and will never see her with human eyes.

Sherlock's brain pattern was uploaded, along with those of other recognised geniuses, to an information matrix many years ago. Their minds were thought too precious to remain mortal.

It hadn't been against Sherlock's wishes. He had agreed to the procedure very soon after his husband had died, while he was in anguish. In his despair, he had thought there was nothing to live for.

He exists within the command structure of the ship, now, controlling the systems, controlling the mechanoids. He has been alone for a long time. He doesn't mind much.

The ship can manage very well in an 'unmanned' state. It is sent, _Sherlock_ is sent, to investigate anomalies in deep space, in places too inhospitable for human explorers.

Occasionally, Sherlock will come into the proximity of other mind-controlled ships. Hawking had been his most recent encounter, and the two minds had shared interesting accumulations of data. Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, is controller of a planetary system somewhere, but Sherlock has not bothered to seek him out.

If he misses anyone, it is the humans he once knew, now long dead. It will be pleasant to have a human aboard for a while, even if it is not for long.

The new crew member has brown eyes. Sherlock can 'see' them with sensors that are connected to the visual centre of his mind matrix. She has a dazzling smile, which seems the most familiar thing about her.

She directs the smile at his central systems panel, the place where he could most reasonably be said to ' _be_ '. He activates a vocal response system, not used for a while.

"Hello. I am Sherlock."

The voice simulator produces a deep, velvety baritone.

"Oh. You sound just like you do in the recordings grandpère Guillaume had…"

"Obviously, since I am myself."

Sherlock searches his database. _Guillaume_. His son. _Their_ son. He experiences a brief moment of grief for the young man he left behind, who lost both his fathers in such a short space of time. He suppresses it.  _It was for the greater good,_ he tells himself.

"I have brought something for you."

"What can you have brought that I need?"

"It is a legacy from my great-grandfather. You left ( _died_ ) before it could be fulfilled."

 _Is she accusing him_? No. The look in her eyes is sadness, not accusation.

"It has taken a long time for us to be able to carry out his wishes."

"Your great-grandfather has been dead a long time…"

"But you have not forgotten him."

"No. I have not forgotten him."

She approaches the central systems panel, carrying a small metal plaque, which she affixes using a permanent adhesive. The plaque is engraved.

_"Sherlock, my love. My heart will be with you, always."_

Above the engraving is set a tiny diamond heart.

"His ashes were compressed into the diamond. Arrière-grandpère Lestrade wanted you to have it. I am the first in our family to travel in space. The first that could bring it to you, Arrière-grandpère Sherlock."

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Lets Write Sherlock challenge 15
> 
> Very vaguely inspired by Anne McCaffrey's novel "The Ship Who Sang"


End file.
